The present invention relates to a system for picking off tobacco leaves from reaped and dried tobacco plants and sorting the picked leaves, and more specifically to a tobacco leaf sorting system for sorting the picked tobacco leaves according to their insertions on stalks of the plants.
In general, tobacco plants cultivated in tobacco fields are reaped from their stalks for harvesting, and the reaped plants are dried whole to a predetermined degree. After the drying, the plants are reduced to stalks and leaves. Conventionally, this reduction or leaf picking work is accomplished by the use of leaf picking apparatuses of various types developed hitherto. These apparatuses include, for example, a picking apparatus disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Disclosure No. 51-1355. According to this apparatus, leaves are picked off from stalks of tobacco plants while the plants are being passed through the apparatus.
To meet the requirement in the next process, however, the tobacco leaves picked off by the prior art leaf picking apparatus must thereafter be sorted according their insertions on the stalks. Conventionally, therefore, the picked leaves are sorted manually, requiring much time and labor. This results in an increase in production cost of tobacco leaves.